Dillon Dobson

Dillon Dobson, J.D.

Dillon Dobson is a lecturer teaching American Indian Studies 440 History. He is a member of both the Cowlitz Indian Tribe and the California State Bar Association. He earned his Juris Doctor with honors and a certificate in Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy from the University of Arizona in 2022. While there, he was a leader in the Native American Law Students Association (NALSA) and an editor on the Arizona Journal of Environmental Law & Policy (AJELP). Dobson completed his Master of Professional Studies in Indigenous Governance at Arizona in 2023.

He has worked nationally with leading Indian law firms on Federal Indian Law, tribal governance, and international indigenous human rights law. Dobson has worked with and for Tribes and Indigenous Peoples on a wide range of Indian law matters including housing, community development, human rights, treaty rights, water rights, healthcare law, and more.

Dobson's mentors and professors include Dr. Lawrence Gross, Professors Rob Williams, Rebecca Tsosie, and the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNSRRIP). He helped draft the UNSRRIP’s 77th Report to the General Assembly on Protected areas and indigenous peoples’ rights: the obligations of States and international organizations and has been published in the Arizona Journal of Environmental Law & Policy and in the Frontiers journal.

Dobson’s scholarship focuses on cutting-edge tribal sovereignty and Indigenous human rights issues. His work examines tribal energy sovereignty, cultural sovereignty, economic development, Indigenous data sovereignty (IDSov), and blockchain. Currently, his research focuses on IDSov, blockchain, and AI.

He is a father of two incredible sons and is one of his peoples ƛʼpúlmixq Language Keepers. Dobson is a black belt in Taekwondo and a former champion at national and international levels. He currently practices Chen Tai Chi with Master Sang Han who learned under Grand Master Chen Xiao Xing.